The Humble Libertarian original

Last week, Congress avoided a government shutdown by agreeing to a continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded for another week. Then over the weekend, US lawmakers agreed to a deal that will extend funding through September while Congress and the White House continue to negotiate longer-term fiscal policy priorities. The US House passed the budget deal Wednesday. But amidst Washington’s annual kabuki theater dance around fiscal policy and possible government shutdowns, a little provision was tucked away in the budget bill that addressed medical marijuana in the now 29 states where it’s legal, with West Virginia the most recent to legalize just last month... Read the rest at The Independent Voter Network .

Are you stuck in the never-ending toilet swirl of the mainstream media news cycle? Even most "serious" news like all the 24-hour cable news networks and the inky gray rags made of dead trees that still get delivered to people's houses from a truck two decades deep into the 21st century are all just basically gossip columns that cover politicians and journalists instead of actors and singers. Which actually kind of makes sense now that I think about it... that's all politicians and journalists are: Politicians are actors (not people who take action, people who read their scripted lines on television to entertain you while the state goes about its business off camera). Journalists are singers (not people who tell you the truth, people who sing you a song about the truth and justice and all that to entertain you while the state goes about its business off camera). So if you want to stop chasing your tail with everybody else until you end up like this guy , wit...

"A military judge on Wednesday morning sentenced Army Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks... According to the military, Manning is required to serve one-third of the sentence before he becomes eligible for parole... The decision was immediately condemned by the American Civil Liberties Union. “When a soldier who shared information with the press and public is punished far more harshly than others who tortured prisoners and killed civilians, something is seriously wrong with our justice system,” said Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project." Source: Washington Post Hat tip: Memeorandum Libertarian resources on Manning: The Truth About Bradley Manning [Video] by: Stefan Molyneux Manning's Apology Is A Forced Confession.. Obviously

Such a good listen: Great job by Stefan Molyneux .

Edward Snowden was nominated by a Swedish sociology professor for the Nobel Peace Prize: Russia Today - A Swedish sociology professor has nominated Edward Snowden for the Nobel Peace Prize. He says the NSA whistleblower could help “save the prize from the disrepute incurred by the hasty and ill-conceived decision” to give the 2009 award to Barack Obama. In his letter addressed to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Stefan Svallfors praised Snowden for his “heroic effort at great personal cost.” He stated that by revealing the existence and the scale of the US surveillance programs, Snowden showed “individuals can stand up for fundamental rights and freedoms.” ... But Kristian Berg Harpviken, senior researcher and deputy director at the International Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), told Interfax news agency that it is very unlikely that Snowden will become a Nobel Prize laureate. Harpviken said that all major deadlines have passed, meaning that Snowden will have very little ...

Alana Goodman, the author of the Washington Free Beacon's hit piece against Rand Paul earlier this week ( my thoughts on it here ), favorably quoted a radical racist and terrorist leader in a 2008 article for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. The piece, entitled "Bye George W. Bush, it's been Israel," was a letter of gushing praise for the outgoing Republican president. With the USA's own interests thrown in as an afterthought, Goodman clearly assesses George W. Bush's presidency as a glowing success for one reason: "In the past 60 years, no U.S. president has been a better friend to Israel. And for a country so desperately in need of friends, his assistance has been invaluable." Goodman's single most important criterion for the success of a US presidency is... how good it is for a single other country, not for the US. Not for the entire world. But the strangest part of a very strange article was near the end, where Goodman favorabl...

This is an absolutely phenomenal interview between some sharp students at the University of Wisconsin and some pretty dim-witted NSA recruiters. Do yourself a favor and listen to this while following along on the written transcript at one of the students' blogs under the blog title, "The NSA Comes Recruiting." Can someone please fire David Gregory and give his job to Madiha Tahir, the journalism student that asked many of the questions and published the recording and transcript above?

Two Brazoria County, TX women were pulled over for speeding. The cop did not give the women, who were in bikinis, a chance to put some clothes on before making them wait on the side of the highway for a female cop to show up and give them a body cavity search in the police cruiser on the side of the highway- because a small amount of marijuana was found in the car. Warning - graphic rape footage:

Warning: this video is *extremely* graphic and disturbing. Hawthorne, CA Police Officer Shoots Dog: InfoWars reports : "The 130-pound, 3-year-old Rottweiler named Max was shot to death after he escaped through a window in a parked car and ran over to his master, Leon Rosby, who was being arrested for filming the scene on his phone." Hat tip: Daily Paul . The comments on the YouTube page were overwhelmingly critical of the police overreaction. Here are some examples: for the last time since so many dummies seem to exist here: ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS TELL THE OWNER TO TAKE CARE OF IT. he wasn't resisting, he would have wanted his dog safe, so all they could have done is stopped cuffing him for 15 seconds, let him secure his dog and calm it down... and then they could have continued their pointless arrest. easy. nobody hurt. isn't that the logical normal thing to do if a dog is "threatening" you? to tell it's owner to take care of it? I hope...

Because global warming: Anyone else feel like he's being a jerk?

[ WIKILEAKS ] Statement from Edward Snowden in Moscow Monday July 1, 21:40 UTC One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful. On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic "wheeling and dealing" over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions. This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to fright...

To show just how creepy and invasive the NSA's spying is, German Green party politician Malte Spitz sued to have a German telecom giant hand over six months of his phone data, which he made available to a German newspaper, Zeit Online. Zeit then put together a presentation showing just what the NSA is watching when it watches your use of your phone. Hit play on the chilling presentation and you'll see a little target begin to move around a map of Germany as Spitz's GPS data is relayed and stored. You'll see a little phone icon appear next to the target every time he makes a phone call. A little box below the map displays the date and time of day as they tick by. To the right of the map, every time a new day begins, an overview of Spitz's metadata appears with the number of incoming and outgoing phone calls, the total time spent on the phone, the number of incoming and outgoing SMS text messages, and the duration of phone connection to the Internet. It will someti...

#DEFCAD has gone dark at the request of the Department of Defense Trade Controls. Take it up with the Secretary of State. — Defense Distributed (@DefDist) May 9, 2013 I warned you about this . Push back against this intrusion on our liberty NOW. No, NOT by calling your Congressman! Download the gun files anyways ! It's easy. You can do it in under five minutes. 1. Download uTorrent and install on your computer. 2. Then visit the following link. http://thepiratebay.sx/search/defcad/0/99/0 That's where all the gun files are. 3. Click the magnet icons under the Liberator printable gun link and the most recent version of the DefCad Mega Pack link. Use uTorrent to download BOTH of these! This is important! This is urgent! This isn't even about the Second Amendment anymore. This is about the First Amendment. No, it's not even about that. It's about: are you afraid of the Washington regime, or are you laughing at it? UPDATE: DefCad....

Writes Nick of his recent interview with Cody Wilson at TheTruthAboutGuns.com : 'The first thing we wanted to know is if he’s worried about a possible stretch as a guest of the the federal government in one of their high security greybar hotels. Cody’s response: “I’m looking forward to it. It’ll give me time to catch up on my reading.” As far as he’s concerned, the government might get him on any number of technicalities. Cody started listing the ways that Uncle Sam could justify putting him away, almost as if they were badges of honor — thumbing his nose at their attempts to control the proliferation of firearms. It fits well with the “crypto-anarchist” persona that he’s developed as his efforts with 3D printing have progressed. Robert was concerned that Cody didn’t have a lawyer already on speed dial in the event of his arrest. We started spit-balling lawyers that might be interested in taking his case, and Cody wasn’t too impressed with any of them. Alan Gottleib was de...

The world's first fully 3D printed handgun, except for a single metal nail for the firing pin. Defense Distributed's Liberator: Why this could help stop gun control forever . Download the gun demonstrated above here .

NBC News reports : 'The Air Force official in charge of its sexual-assault prevention program was arrested for groping, authorities said Monday. Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski, 41, was removed from his position as head of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office pending an investigation, the Air Force said. The incident happened just after midnight Sunday when a drunken Krusinski allegedly approached the woman in a parking lot in Arlington, Va., and grabbed her breasts and buttocks, according to a police report. Police said the woman fought off her assailant and scratches can be seen on Krusinski’s face in his mug shot. He was charged with sexual battery. The charges are "deeply troubling," Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh said Tuesday. The Air Force has requested jurisdiction in the case, which is standard practice.' Just one more obvious sign that your government is tragically and perhaps irreparably broken. The report of these tragically i...

This spring, Young Americans for Liberty hosted 10 State Conventions all across the country for the first time ever!! They've partnered with state and national organizations nationwide to bring one-day campus events designed to build stronger state networks, advance their activists' knowledge and skills, and inspire attendees to their best activism yet. Video summary:

From Engadget: 'While patrolling the halls of the CHI 2013 Human Factors in Computing conference in Paris, we spied a research project from MIT's Media Lab called "Smarter Objects" that turns Minority Report tech on its head. The researchers figured out a way to map software functionality onto tangible objects like a radio, light switch or door lock through an iPad interface and a simple processor / WiFi transceiver in the object. Researcher Valentin Huen explains that "graphical user interfaces are perfect for modifying systems," but operating them on a day-to-day basis is much easier using tangible objects.' Just so cool.

At the center of corruption is the Federal Reserve who has gained enormous amounts of control over America’s economy, with disastrous effects beginning to show. Standing opposite, is the band of Rebels who have vowed to take back the freedom they once knew… and they won’t go down without a fight. Monetary mayhem. Explosions. Romance. Silver Circle plans to take indie animation to a whole other level. David Morgan of Silver-Investor.com will be helping put on a one-night event to remember at the Magic Lantern Theater in downtown Spokane.

Oh yeah. You read that headline right. Bet you never thought you'd read a headline like that. Judge tells the police to give a man his weed back: Joseph L. Robertson's Marijuana Will Be Returned By Cops Who Seized It, Judge Orders TACOMA, Wash. -- Police in Tacoma could soon be in real trouble over pot. The department could be found in contempt if they continue to refuse to return a small amount of marijuana seized from a man after a traffic stop. Municipal Court Judge Jack Emery repeated an order to police Thursday to return the drug to Joseph L. Robertson within seven days or they could be found in contempt. "Appeal or comply," Emery told assistant city attorney John Walker. "Or next week, show up, and I would advise you to bring counsel." The judge first ordered police to return the drug on Feb. 28, but they have refused, The News Tribune reported Friday (http://bit.ly/10hwiD9). It was seized in May of last year when an officer pulled over...